Thenardite Anyone?

[MrLee]

I picked this up while out at the Gem-o-Rama back in Oct. I knew it wasn't Halite or Hanksite, but I couldn't figure out what it was until this morning. Very happy to finally identify it, Thenardite.

 

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[mamabear]

never heard of that. will have to look it up. is the color true in the pics?

 

[mamabear]

just read about it in Audobon field guide. Are you sure? says is salty to taste.

 

[MrLee]

Color is true. Yep, positive. These are sodium crystals from Searles Lake, Trona, CA. Cousin to Hanksite, Halite and sulfo-halite.

 

[mamabear]

I love learning new minerals. thanks for posting

 

[Eu_citzen]

Never heard of it either, nice specimen!

 

[MrLee]

Wow, something EU Citizen didn't know! Glad I could contribute to your knowledge.

Had a garage sale this past weekend and sold a lot of halite and hanksite. Was fun being the educator this time around, but I learned a hard lesson, keep your thenardite & hanksite out of the sun, turns them white & powdery.

 

[Eu_citzen]

Well, salts and halites is something I next to never come across, my knowledge is mostly based on/off regional geologic phenomena.